Monthly Archives: March 2012

Waste disposal firm Forward Inc. has reached a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California to resolve alleged violations of air pollution laws at its landfill in Manteca.

The settlement requires the company to spend an estimated $3.8 million to improve the landfill’s gas collection and emission control system and to replace the landfill’s fleet of trucks with more efficient options to reduce pollution.

"Today’s settlement is good news for the families of the San Joaquin Valley," said Benjamin B. Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. "Cleaning up the Valley’s air so that our children can breathe easier is important for all of us."

Homeowners located near landfills can invest in an air purifier to cut down their exposure to harmful pollutants. Air pollution can increase a person’s risk of stroke, heart attack, aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma and cause some forms of cancer to develop. IQAir HealthPro Plus HEPA Air Purifiers can keep your family safe inside the home.

Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", an oil and gas drilling method under recent debate, may contribute to acute and chronic health problems in people living within half a mile of operations due to air pollution, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Denver School Of Public Health.

The study was based on three years of monitoring and indicated that oil and gas retrieval can release harmful chemicals into the air. Researchers also indicated a number of "potentially toxic petroleum hydrocarbons in the air near the wells including benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene," were found, reports the Centre Daily.

Benzene is a known carcinogen and is colorless, has a sweet odor and is highly flammable. Those that inhale the chemical can experience drowsiness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headaches, tremors, confusion, unconsciousness and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Homeowners concerned about the negative effects of fracking pollution should invest in a home air purifier. The IQAir GC VOC can protect your family from the illnesses and repercussions of fracking and everyday pollution.

According to a new study conducted at Columbia University, pregnant women exposed to high levels of air pollution may put their kids at increased risk of developing behavioral problems, reports Time Magazine.

Those who live in urban areas are exposed to increased levels of pollution, especially to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are the result of burning fossil fuels, tobacco and other organic material. Researchers claim that 100 percent of the 253 New York City women participating in the study had noticeable levels of PAH in their homes, and those with the high levels in their blood were more likely to have children who developed anxiety, depression and attention problems by the age 6 or 7.

Mothers concerned about the health of their children may wish to invest in a home air purifier. The IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier is a high-quality and effective device that can drastically reduce the allergens and pollutants that may be present in your home. Air pollution has been linked to higher rates of strokes and heart attacks, decreased respiratory function and some forms of cancer in adults. Don’t let your children grow up in this environment without the protection a home air purifier can provide.

Two studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in February 2012 link moderate air pollution levels to an increased risk of stroke in women. After the investigation of medical records for 1,705 women with an average age of 71 living in Boston, MA, researchers found that the chance of having a stroke on days of moderate pollution was 34 percent higher than on good days.

That risk rose between 12 and 24 hours after the pollution level increased, and showed a dose-response relationship, reports Medical News Today. As air pollution levels increased, so did the rate of cognitive decline. Every 10 µg per cubic metre increase in particulate matter concentration the women were exposed to was the same as the cognitive decline of aging two years.

Invest in a home air purifier to reduce the risk of long-term pollution exposure. Air pollution negatively impacts the health of people of both genders. However, the increasing correlation between moderate pollution levels, which are currently considered safe under federal regulations, and increased risk of stroke in women is disturbing. A home air purifier could limit exposure and give a person greater peace of mind.

The B.L. England power generating plant faces a May 1 deadline to reduce the amount of pollution from its coal-fired boilers or it may get shut down, reports the Cape May County Herald. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) green house emissions inventory list for 2010, the B.L. England was ranked 12th on a list of the top 20 polluters in the state for producing 603,727 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

The Clean Air Task Force claims the plant is responsible for an estimated 300 asthma attacks, 32 heart attacks and 13 premature death each year, reports the news source. Homeowners concerned about the negative health effects from the pollution the plant produces should consider investing in a home air purifier. The IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier reducing the toxins present in your home to limit long-term exposure.

Over the long-term, air pollution can cause chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver or kidneys. Invest in a home air purifier to protect loved ones by decreasing exposure to deadly pollutants.

Colorado's State Implementation Plan for Regional Haze, a comprehensive package of pollution emission reduction strategies, has received the initial go ahead from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Colorado has long recognized the importance of protecting air quality in national parks and wilderness areas, and has taken a leadership role in developing a plan that reduces emissions of pollutants that adversely impact visibility. The tremendous pollution reductions will also have significant public health benefits," said Dr. Christopher E. Urbina, executive director and chief medical officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The package is aimed to provide health and environmental protections. Homeowners concerned about their own health risks from toxic pollution may wish to consider investing in a home air purifier. While Colorado is making a dedicated step toward improved air quality, these initiatives take time. Long-term exposure negatively impacts a person's well being. Conditions include increased risk of heart attack and stroke, a decrease in lung function and the aggravation of respiratory illnesses such as asthma. A home air purifier can help protect homeowners and their families from this with the IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier.

A new hypothesis, which still awaits testing and further research, proposes the increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere may be affecting human brain chemistry to signal an increase in appetite, which could contribute to the current national obesity epidemic. The theory links increased CO2 levels to making blood more acidic, which in turn cases neurons that regulate appetite to encourage feeding more frequently.

"If it turns out that people are increasing their food intake due to this mechanism of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, we would suddenly be getting a new dimension," said Arne Astrup, head of the department of obesity and nutrition at the University of Copenhagen. "This could give us an explanation for why the entire population on this planet is increasing in body weight as soon as there is available food."

If the research ends up indicating CO2 levels do promote obesity, a homeowner may have more reasons than ever to install a home air purifier. Air pollution already has a negative impact on an individual's health by increasing risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer and aggravating respiratory illness such as asthma and bronchitis by impairing lung function.

The IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier is an ideal solution that works to regulate indoor air quality to a healthy standard by reducing toxins.

Research indicates future growth in global air pollution control equipment production for the energy and power industries due to new regulations. According to Frost & Sullivan's Analysis of the Global Air Pollution Control Equipment in Energy and Power Market research, the share of earned revenue in 2010 was $7.57 billion. This is expected to increase to $9.69 billion in 2017.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rules will compel these industries to reevaluate their current preventative strategies in order to meet new emission regulations.

However, market research indicates these changes, while positive, may take years to successfully implement. Therefore, homeowners concerned about the negative health impacts of long-term exposure to pollution emissions may wish to invest in a home air purifier such as the IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier.

Maintaining a safe home environment is important to many individuals. For those afflicted with respiratory illnesses such as asthma, the toxic particulates that partially make up air pollution can create a hazardous living situation. Invest in your health, invest in a home air purifier.

The race is on for a portion of a $53 million fund, ready and waiting to be divided to various groups to improve Coachella Valley's air quality. The divide is over whether the bulk of the funds should be used as a down-payment on a 54-mile green parkway connecting the entire valley through the Whitewater River wash or when it should be divided in small amounts by community groups and nonprofit agencies, reports MyDesert.com.

The money is a result of Assembly Bill 1318 that passed in 2009, which allowed the developers of the Sentinel power plant near Desert Hot Springs to purchase emission offset credits directly from the regional air-quality board instead of the private market, reports the news source.

Homeowners in the area seeking to further offset the pollution such a plant will create, despite the creative ideas being tossed around to offset the effect, may wish to consider a home air purifier. IQAir HealthPro Plus HEPA Air Purifiers are an investment in the air a homeowner breathes in everyday, and provides assurance and safety from toxins.

The Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing (CRRM) has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $970,000, in addition to investing more than $4.25 million in new pollution controls and $6.5 million in operating costs to resolve alleged violations of air quality and pollution emissions, the U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this month.

"This settlement puts CRRM on a level playing field with the more than 100 petroleum refineries that have agreed to implement aggressive pollution control measures, thereby reducing the threats posed by harmful emissions to area residents," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.

The list of negative health impacts of pollution emissions is long and varied. Homeowners concerned over their families' risk of exposure can invest in the IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier. Especially in areas surrounded by refineries, factories or energy plants, a home air purifier can provide peace of mind and improved indoor air quality to limit exposure to toxins.